Happy New Year to all of you from PuckinLeafs!! I hope 2025 is a fantastic year for everyone and includes lots of winning, especially in the post season.
Before we get to the players, my own New Years resolution is to find less ways to hate the Leafs. It’s far too easy to dislike a group of entitled, spoiled millionaires that never deliver when it matters most, so this will be a tough resolution to keep, but if it were easy you wouldn’t have to make a resolution to change. I’ll also continue to use these AI Generated pics, because how can I not? Go Toronto Marele Leeefes!!!
We’ll start with the goaltenders.
Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll: I’ll lump two of these players together, because they need to make the same resolution and that’s to find more ways to stay healthy. Joseph Woll was out of the lineup to start the season, while Anthony Stolarz is set to miss up to 6 weeks as of this writing. With neither player having started more than 28 games in a single season, this is exactly what we all predicted would happen. I’m just glad they haven’t been injured at the same time….. yet.
Chris Tanev: Never change. That’s the resolution. And I mean never. With 5 more seasons on his contract after this year, the Leafs are going to need the 35 year old to keep doing everything he’s currently doing until he’s 40.
Jake McCabe: Jake is a solid puck handler when you consider the fact that his game is focused on defense first. With 8 goals and 28pts last season, which were both career highs, he showed that he can produce a little more than your typical stay-at-home defender. This season he’s on pace for 0 goals and 21pts, which makes a resolution of hitting the net more an easy one to make, because it’s not that he isn’t shooting, it’s simply that those shots are often off the mark.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson: Okay, so the world is never going to see the OEL that was scoring over 20 goals and 50pts a season again, we’re okay with that, but a little more offense is needed from the blueline on this team and this seems like a prime candidate to provide a little more, so a good resolution would be to provide a little more offense without sacrificing the solid defensive game that we’ve seen so far.
Simon Benoit: It’s tough to provide a resolution for a player that is providing exactly what you ask of him. Hit even more?
Connor Timmins: Connor needs to make the resolution to keep doing what he’s doing because he has found a footing in the NHL for the first time. Having now dressed for a career high 34 NHL games in a single season, he’s found a fan in Craig Berube and looks solid within the coach’s system.
Philippe Myers: The most recent rumour has Myers closing in on a contract extension. At 27 years old, the 6’5″ 220lb RD was all but written off as a legitimate NHL player as recently as the start of this season, but like Timmins he has found a coach that believes in his ability to be a stay-at-home defender in the NHL. I’ve said it before and will say it again, of all the skaters that have played with Morgan Rielly this year, I have found Myers has looked the best with him. My resolution for him is to sign the contract and stick around.
Morgan Rielly: The final resolution for the defense is for Rielly. My resolution for him is to play much, much better in his own zone. There’s a reason his minutes are down about two and a half minutes a night from last season and that’s that the current coach values the ability to defend. Hopefully the Leafs’ longest tenured player can get on board with the new direction, because he hasn’t adjusted well so far.
David Kampf: Kampf will likely never produce enough offense again to make his contract look reasonable, but he has 2 goals over his past 3 games and 3pts over his past 5, which makes continuing to put up offense a good resolution to make. It helps that he has played on the 2nd line with William Nylander lately, which will only be something they consider doing as long as Auston Matthews is on the shelf. I guess the hope is that he can do enough in the meantime to convince another GM that taking on his contract for nothing could be a net positive.
Connor Dewar: It would be an easy thing to ask for more offense across the board from the bottom 6, but instead I’ll say that a good resolution for Dewar would be to be more reckless. He isn’t afraid to engage physically, that’s for sure, but take a page from the book of Darcy Tucker and feel free to throw your body around at high speed.
Steven Lorentz: I’ll borrow some past resolutions. Don’t change and sign an extension.
Ryan Reaves: Resolve to fight more, it’s what you’re paid to do.
Bobby McMann: There have been a couple of beautiful passes made by McMoses this season, so I’ll give him the resolution to pass more because we know he has the vision to make those plays. Can that resolution be made while not sacrificing the goal scoring? If so, that would be swell.
Pontus Holmberg: I’m really not sure what resolution fits best for Holmberg. I guess a little more of everything would make his game evolve into one that would elevate him to regular NHLer? He’ll be 26 years old soon though, so it’s right to question how much development there is left.
Nicholas Robertson: Long term? I’m not sure there’s a fit. Short term? They need his offense from the bottom 6 and some valuable trade chips. Robertson’s resolution should be to ride the chemistry wave that is allowing him to produce goals at the moment, which will increase his trade value and allow the team to fulfill his summertime trade request.
Max Domi: It would be an easy thing to ask for more offense across the board from the bottom 6, but instead I’ll say that a good resolution for Domi would be to be more reckless. He isn’t afraid to engage physically, that’s for sure, but take a page from the book of Darcy Tucker and feel free to throw your body around at high speed.
Max Pacioretty: If you had told me before the season started that Pacioretty would be 4th on the team in Hits/60 (Min. 12GP) I’m not sure I would have believed you. If you had told me that some of those hits would be of the crushing variety, I definitely wouldn’t have believed you. My resolution for Pacioretty is to turn that dial to 11 around mid April.
William Nylander: Make a resolution to fuckin try? Phil Kessel V2.0 has always left me wondering how great he could be if he simply put some effort in.
John Tavares: A resolution to keep turning back the clock would be nice. The former captain is on pace for his best statistical season since his first year in Toronto. Is it a coincidence that he has spent so much time with Marner this year and did the same during that season?
Matthew Knies: We’ve witnessed Knies’ game grow since last season. He’s bigger and stronger, has developed into an effective penalty killer and his offensive game is coming along slowly. A resolution to keeping your head up a touch more seems fitting, as he hasn’t been the same since the hit took him out for a couple of games earlier this year.
Auston Matthews: A resolution to get healthy is a starting point. Once that’s done he’ll have to make a second resolution and that’s to rise to the challenge of being the captain in Toronto. At least part of that, to me, is putting the team on your back at times during the playoffs and willing them to a win. I’m not sure he has ever done that before, which makes 2025 a great time to start.
Mitch Marner: Marner has taken a lot of shit over the past year. Last season’s playoff loss was lumped onto his shoulders and with just 3pts in 7 games it’s tough not to see where the criticism was coming from. Through the intense scrutiny he had every reason to pack it in and ask for a trade. Afterall, it’s not as if any of the other stars stepped up to push the team through Round 1 and into Round 2, so, from his point of view, why should he take the brunt of the criticism? Instead of being sour he has decided to be more physically engaged in board battles, is on pace for his best offensive season to date and has stepped up in the absence of Auston Matthews. Now, to convince him to stay committed to a fan base that still has large portions that doesn’t even want him, he could ask for the moon on a contract extension or walk as a UFA this summer and get it somewhere else. Might I suggest that a good resolution is to put the team first, instead of what he did during his previous negotiation, and take a deal that benefits the player AND the organization?